Cheers,
The Gaffer

The Euro Final was 2.4 million households, not viewers. Same with MLS on ESPN 2 — that's 261k households, not viewers.

As evidence, look no further than the average daily coverage on FSC or when ESPN airs games. The coverage & choice of programming often resembles a soccer conglomerate since until more recently, I believe U.S. broadcasters considered largely any soccer programming to have intrinsically equal entertainment value (outside of World Cup). In some ways, I attribute their lack of target viewer understanding to soccer's lower stature amongst American sports viewers. That not withstanding, it likely also stems from an American sports broadcast approach wherein simply airing any football (NFL, college, etc.) attracts viewers while remaining a relatively homogeneous product across all levels in terms of entertainment value.

As evidenced by the Euro 2008 coverage, ESPN has taken notice of soccer's U.S. television viability hinging upon the quality of the on-field product rather than it's simple availablity. Perhaps being shown up by FSC is precisly the remedy or even, hopefully, the final straw needed to complete the transformation of U.S. broadcasters soccer programming choices. When contemplating this realigned broadcast approach & a possible U.S. EPL contract, I tend to disagree with those suggesting MLS is doomed or will suffer greatly. Granted, the first step in maintaining MLS's growth when the EPL does gain a foothold, is for the league to embrace their status rather than attempt to out run it. It can be viewed in much the same terms as Minor League Baseball, and while I would love nothing more than to have a top-flite domestic soccer league now, I think MLS will flourish as a bi-product of growing EPL popularity. Major League Baseball is more successful than ever & subsequently, Minor League Baseball has seen comperable & corralating success. Building this success on the back of the EPL will eventually lead to MLS becoming the quality we all desire, because as the EPL's U.S. popularity grows, American demand for a similar product domestically will rise & eventually be met by MLS.

MLS is around for a while and not in danger of going anywhere. They don't do a good job of developing players now, yet the national team seems to be in good position to qualify. Americans are overseas in record numbers and make up a majority of the starting positions on the current national team, and also a good number of the future starters as well.

It does not bother me a bit that most mainstream American sports fans don't follow football. It does not bother me a bit that SportsCenter rarely mentions the sport. It does not bother me a bit that we're a small minority in this country. So what? Do we like this sport because it's popular, or because it's a great sport? Me, I like it because it's a great sport. If I'm the only one at the pub watching it, then I'll have a shorter wait time for my next beer.

MLS is here to stay. Whether or not that's a good thing is debatable. EPL ratings are rising, and I think going to rise even more when ESPN takes over in the next contract. I don't see that having a negative effect on the sport in this country.

With FSC, Setanta and potentially ESPN in a bidding war, someone is going to lose out big time.

Honestly you may want to watch a superior product. That is alright. But if MLS disappears don't expect the game to be anything more than a “foreign” sport most Americans look down upon for the rest of our lives. Right now the stakes are sadly that high which is unfortunate because I like all of you think MLS is a poorly run, poorly marketed product whose leadership has been to say the least dishonest with fans through the years. But they must survive and garner more interest in the near future for the good of all of us.

How many titles has Virginia Tech won in ANY sport? NONE

Virginia Tech: the arrogance of Notre Dame with the tradition of Wake Forest. That's my motto.

By the way if you want the figures I have them. No question that Notre Dame outdraws everyone but since the subject was the potential for EPL games to end up on ESPN's familt of networks I thought I'd throw in the Miami stat. Notre Dame and USC's games have been the property of NBC and ABC/FSN for years now so yes it is misleading.

Miami's following is national. You should know that. Besides we have more to do in South Florida and tons of traffic to deal with on Saturday's the you do in the greater Blacksburg/Roanoke area by a wide margin.

I will admit I like the Hokie Basketball team. Seth Greenberg was an assistant at Miami and the Head Coach of USF and is one of the best around. It's your football team and football fans I cannot stand.